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I Took the Plunge and Dumped Windows.

thecoalman

7:15 pm on Oct 15, 2025 (gmt 0)

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I have a high end Dell Laptop Workstation, it's dated but still plenty of power. Certainly much more than some new low cost laptop. CPU is like one generation short of being compliant for Win 11. I know it's possible to get around these requirements but screw em, I'm not playing that game anymore.

I can see where a lot of non technical people would be frustrated with trying to install Linux, feels like I'm back to Windows 95 and need to beat it into submission. Overall experience thus far has been quite good but there has been some hiccups. I installed Mint which seems to be the most recommended for new users. I am familiar with using command line on Linux server so I'm. not a fish completely out of water.

The first hiccup was getting the USB stick to work. I wrote the stick per their instructions and it worked once. Second boot it was complaining about missing file. I have no idea why I'm getting this error "Failed to open \\EFI\\BOOT\\mmx64.efi - Not Found". the second time around. The solution to this was using Rufus in ISO mode. Then open the stick with Windows file explorer, make a copy of EFI/boot/grubx64.efi and rename it to mmx64.efi.

The second hiccup was graphic drivers not loading with secure boot enabled. I installed on drive with secure boot disabled as this was one of the suggestions to get around the missing file error. This was mistake because it didn't fix the missing file error and then caused graphic drivers to not be loaded once secure boot was enabled. Solution to this was simply installing Mint with secure boot enabled.

Other than that it appears sleep/suspend is not working but I'm sure I'll figure that out.

One thing I am pleasantry surprised with is just about everything I need from Windows has same or similar equivalents. Winmerge>> Meld, WinSCP>>FileZilla, Notepad++>>Notepad Next, Keepass>>KeePassXC. Even my Steam account and games work. Last big ticket item is XAMPP but since it's Linux I'm just going to directly install Apache, PHP and MySQL.

graeme_p

8:44 am on Oct 16, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Welcome to the Linux world.

Mint is a reasonable choice. I have not used it for a while but when I did I found the community very helpful. The thing I dislike (if its still true) about it is that they recommend a full reinstall for major OS version upgrade.

You can buy hardware with Linux preinstalled, which gets around the installation issues - most people do not install Windows themselves either. Even if you install a different distro later (I did!) you know the hardware works well with Linux so there are likely to be fewer problems.

Personally I am sceptical about the benefits of secure boot so am happy to just turn it off.

There are a lot more applications that would replace the Windows ones and its worth trying them. Most Linux file managers will handle FTP, SFTP etc. as remote file systems. Just try typing an sftp:// url into your file manager (which will depend on the desktop - I use KDE so its Dolphin) - and most text editors will let you directly open remote files too.

There are a LOT of text editors for Linux and NotepadNext seems to be very much in development. There are lots worth trying depending on features you want - I use Kate, Kwrite, Geany, and have used a few others. Maybe Scite if you want something very light.

Last big ticket item is XAMPP but since it's Linux I'm just going to directly install Apache, PHP and MySQL

I used to do that (have not done any PHP for a while). It should be straightforward, and there are lots of docs (Ubuntu and Debian ones are applicable, BTW, as Mint is based on Ubuntu). MySQL will probably be MariaDB but that is fine. There are also some PHP development servers you can install instead of Apache that you can run as a user. Not necessarily better - I think it depends on your workflow and personal preferences.

thecoalman

12:56 pm on Oct 16, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Personally I am sceptical about the benefits of secure boot so am happy to just turn it off.

It's there primarily to prevent root kits which can be pretty nasty. It works so no reason not to use it.

Most Linux file managers will handle FTP, SFTP etc. as remote file systems. Just try typing an sftp:// url

It was possible to do this with Windows too, at least I did it with FTP many years ago. I prefer the GUI and I have keys which I would assume is going to be hassle.

There are a LOT of text editors for Linux and NotepadNext seems to be very much in development.

This is supposed to be replacement for Notepad++ which I'm very familiar with. However it appear the find in files is either broken or non existent and that's absolute must. In Notepad++ it would open search results pane at the bottom and give you the full line(s) you just click to open the files

MySQL will probably be MariaDB but that is fine.

That's what I meant to say but I keep thinking MySQL. That's what's on live server and what's included with XAMPP.

graeme_p

2:19 pm on Oct 16, 2025 (gmt 0)

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I have keys which I would assume is going to be hassle.

SSH keys? Not if you run an ssh agent - you just add each key once per session. I do it on the command line using ssh-add and everything uses the keys from then on.

mack

3:15 pm on Oct 16, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Welcome! This reminds me of a post I made here (must be 15 years ago) when I made the switch to Linux. I planned to stick with it for a while, and I'm still using Linux to this day as my primary OS.

Linux Mint is a solid choice. Coming from Windows, it won't have a significant learning curve. Knowing how to get about in Terminal will be an advantage for you, there are still some tasks that are far quicker to do there.

Mack.

graeme_p

5:05 pm on Oct 16, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Ah, One thing unclear from my last comment - I think you only need to use an ssh agent if your keys need a passphrase to unlock. Otherwise they should just work.

thecoalman

3:01 am on Oct 17, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Mine have passphrase, I was looking at rsync for scheduling server backups with cron. ChatGPT had directions for setting it up with keys and passphrase. On Windows I did this using Windows task scheduler to fire a WinSCP script.

Martin Potter

3:51 am on Oct 17, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Indeed, welcome to Linux! Sorry, that I can't help with any of the problems you are having as they have never arisen for me, due no doubt to blind luck. Started with Mandrake many years ago, then Mandriva, etc, now using Ubuntu. (And openSUSE on my laptop.) Learned something every day but now at my age I have to write it down or it will be forgotten. The only advice I can offer you is to keep notes and build on what you learn. But you probably do all of that anyway. Good Luck with your progression.

thecoalman

11:44 am on Oct 17, 2025 (gmt 0)

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The only problem I'm having now is with sleep/suspend. Haven't investigated it yet.

The other problems were largely related to file not found error and cascaded into the driver issue with secure boot enabled.

thecoalman

11:59 am on Oct 18, 2025 (gmt 0)

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The sleep/suspend issue is apparently caused by Steam. Make sure it's disabled for startup. Switch to library page on startup in Steam settings which won't have any multimedia playing. It doesn't fully close when closing the window either, you need to right click and exit in system tray. I'd occasionally had this problem in Windows and now I know why, either Steam or open tab in browser plying video on loop.

vivalasvegas

8:05 am on Oct 22, 2025 (gmt 0)

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I too made the switch earlier this year, also settling on Linux Mint after trying different Ubuntu flavors. I also like Lubuntu for its LXQt interface and use it on an older laptop.
I am very excited about the change - Linux makes so much more sense to use when also hosting on Linux.

mcneely

8:30 pm on Oct 22, 2025 (gmt 0)

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Linux makes so much more sense to use when also hosting on Linux

While networking, the permissions from local Linux box to server Linux box don't necessarily align.

Locally I'll set up the things I want (files/folders) and then I'll copy those from my local box and paste them into a folder on the server --

When I'm done I'll open the terminal on the server side and run my perl permissions script setting everything to, or back to, 755 or 644

graeme_p

12:56 pm on Oct 30, 2025 (gmt 0)

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@mccneely, it depends on your default permissions at the remote end, and whether you copy files using software that preserves permissions.

I know command line scp and rsync have options to preserve permissions. I have not had many problems using Dolphin but that might just be luck.

ronin

2:46 pm on Jan 5, 2026 (gmt 0)

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Welcome to Linux!

I thought (numerous times) about switching to Linux in the late 2010s, after Microsoft started promoting Windows 10.

In the event I clung on to my Windows 7 machine until autumn 2022, before finally switching to Linux.

My first Linux laptop had Ubuntu pre-installed. I was really happy with it.

It's the best OS I've ever had (with the possible exception of Windows 7 in some areas) and the most powerful machine.

Unfortunately I knocked an entire glass of lager all over it back in October (I was at a friend's house and it was really late at night... don't ask...) and it eventually came back from the repair shop, needing an external monitor and an external keyboard to work. (I had both, fortunately, but it does mean that it's currently a desktop, rather than a laptop.)

So, as a Christmas present to myself, I invested in a new Linux laptop which is going to arrive tomorrow.

This one has Mint pre-installed (arguably even better than Ubuntu) and it's a more powerful machine than the last one.

Granted, it is refurbished, but... it set me back only �140 ($190) which is... an indication of just how much we are all being charged for Windows licences.

One thing I am pleasantly surprised with is just about everything I need from Windows has same or similar equivalents.

Me too. The programs I used on Windows 7 most often were:

- Firefox browser
- Brave browser
- Visual Studio Code
- FileZilla
- LibreOffice

All of these are pretty much immediately available on Linux distros like Ubuntu and Mint.

In 2022, when I'd spent about two days with Linux and already achieved a level of familiarity with it that I'd anticipated was going to take about three months, I realised how happy I was and I made a firm resolution:

I'm never going back to Windows.

thecoalman

6:48 pm on Jan 5, 2026 (gmt 0)

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Granted, it is refurbished, but... it set me back only �140 ($190) which is... an indication of just how much we are all being charged for Windows licences.

Considering you can buy new laptop with Win11 sub $200 the license fee cant be that much.

The one I'm using now was $700 a few years ago but it was $3K machine a few years before that and it did have Win10 Pro. It arrived like it was brand new, not a scratch. It's also 17 inch screen so that's another reason for the increased price. As giant bonus it had NVIDIA Quadro card that was not advertised with the specs. They had the same model listed with the card for a few hundred more. If I were to guess they must of had stacks of them and just delisted the card for some of them..

tangor

1:17 am on Jan 6, 2026 (gmt 0)

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I just emergency replaced a Dell that krapped out with a Lenovo refurb. I intended to install Linux on that machine but it CAME with Win 11 25H2 preinstalled for $109, tax included. Out of sheer perversity I went on and activated the Win11 and set about disabling every bit of M$ spyware and privacy intrusion, even it if broke the system. (Still plan on installing Mint, but that's still a bit in the future).

Been having so much fun raising the one digit salute to M$ I'm STILL castrating this machine and---by golly!---I've recovered gigabytes of SPACE and RAM and SPEED, oh my! Even regained my LOCAL ACCOUNT and made M$ cloud krap vaporize. But I think I'm getting close to the end of this adventure. The last three items on my list to extinguish will SURELY make the machine inoperable. But until that time... GREAT FUN!

Kendo

12:54 am on Jan 9, 2026 (gmt 0)

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We are currently working on a custom browser for Linux and Ubuntu looks nice and user friendly. But as a developer working on all sorts of projects, nothing can compare with Windows.

graeme_p

10:23 am on Jan 9, 2026 (gmt 0)

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I think @thecoalman is correct and OEM Windows licences (tied to the hardware) are very cheap (I have read of $20 or so prices), and the cost can be offset by preinstalling stuff that promotes paid services (i.e. the laptop vendor gets paid to preinstall it) - so it may even be cheaper for them to preinstall Windows than not install an OS at all.

My current laptop came with linux preinstalled at it was more expensive than a similarly specced one with Windows (although smaller vendor may have something to do with that rather than software costs). Its a nice design and worth a small premium to be sure of having Linux supported hardware and good customer service.